Sending thoughts of love and compassion to my friends, followers and all the citizens in The Netherlands who have lost so many this week.
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Sending thoughts of love and compassion to my friends, followers and all the citizens in The Netherlands who have lost so many this week.
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K Heidi Fishman (Popje and Me)
Dear Heidi,
Thank you so much! After much hesitation – we hadn’t seem such a day since 1962 and after the ‘we cope with things on our own’-stance – we had our national day of mourning today. Flags half mast, make-shift commemorations everywhere and one minute of silence when the first two planes with coffins landed. This has been a good day in many respects, after the excruciating days of waiting and rising anger. The numb feeling that I remember from the post-9/11 days today is giving way to inspiration to act. First of all to create a lasting memorial for somebody close to me: like so many in this small country I have to mourn the loss of a very dear person, one of my colleagues, Willem Witteveen, professor of law, Senator, but above all a great human being, defender of democracy and justice… He was on the plane with his wife and daughter, who was one of our students. Today we had an impressive commemoration ceremony at the University which I experienced as empowering and mindlifting. Still, as the 193 Dutch victims came from all over the country, the entire nation is in shock. We have been waken up from our complacent feeling of peace and sense of security: never since 1945 so many Dutch citizens have been killed in a war situation – somebody else’s rotten war that is. It is wonderful to experience the support from you and all other friends all over the world. People abroad (for example a commentator in the New York Times) may blame us for our restrained reaction but believe me that any use of force would only backlash on us and the rest of EUrope. We will have to corner Putin, yes, but we need time and joint economic and military sanctions to do this, sanctions that will also hurt us – but so be it. Thanks again, you’re wonderful!
Hartelijke groeten
Arnoud-Jan
Verstuurd vanaf mijn iPhone
Op 23 jul. 2014 om 15:48 heeft “popje and me” <comment-reply@wordpress.com> het volgende geschreven:
Heidi Fishman posted: “Sending thoughts of love and compassion to my friends, followers and all the citizens in The Netherlands who have lost so many this week.”
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